Visual and Material Perspectives on East Asia

We cordially invite you to join us this Friday, Feb 21, at 4:45-6:45pm CT, CWAC 152 for the fourth VMPEA workshop this winter. The workshop features:

Mengge Cao

Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Art History, University of Chicago

Who will be presenting the paper titled:

“The Expanded Surface of Painting in Middle Period China” 

Please see the abstract and bios for this workshop below.

We hope to see many of you there!

Detail from Reading in an Open Hall (Fengyan zhanjuan 風檐展卷). Leaf. Ink and color on silk. 24.8 x 25.2 cm. National Palace Museum.

Abstract:

The development of painting formats in Middle Period (750-1300) China was often portraited as a linear progression, emphasizing the decline of mural tradition and the growing prevalence of scroll mountings. This reductive narrative oversimplifies the dynamic interactions among diverse painting formats and limits our understanding of historical viewers’ experiences. This research proposes a “surface-oriented” framework that broadens the scope for exploring the ontologies and functions of paintings during this period. In his influential book The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception (1979), James J. Gibson argued that surfaces provide the essential affordances for perception and action, serving as the primary interface between an organism and its surroundings. Surfaces serve as the interface through which humans and animals navigate the world, traversing the boundaries of objects, the self, and others. They provide the contexts and relationships that connect things, bodies, and environments. This framework repositions surfaces as a critical lens to examine the roles of paintings on furniture and utilitarian objects, as well as the emergence of independent mounting formats such as hanging scrolls, handscrolls, and leaves. By focusing on surfaces, paintings are no longer seen as static entities in fixed categories but as dynamic, conceptual, and material processes that actively shaped the experiences of historical viewers. In this workshop, I will present a work-in-progress exploration of this “surface-oriented” framework and analyze selected art objects to illustrate its potential for rethinking the development of painting formats in Middle Period China.

Bio:

Mengge Cao is a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Center for the Art of East Asia (CAEA) in conjunction with the Department of Art History. His research examines the development of painting formats in Middle Period China (750–1350), with a special focus on the relationship between painting’s objecthood, perceiving bodies, and the built environment. He is also interested in exploring the agency of reprographic technologies in East Asian art history. At CAEA, Mengge is responsible for providing research content, developing the curatorial narrative, and writing labels for the exhibition related to the Dispersed Chinese Art Digitization Project (DCADP). Mengge received his PhD from the Department of Art and Archaeology at Princeton University. In his dissertation “Small-Size Painting and its Viewership in Southern Song Dynasty China, 1127–1279,” Mengge conducts quantitative analyses of nearly 1,500 entries from the “Song Dynasty Painting Database” and argues that small-size paintings gained medium specificities at the turn of the late twelfth century and facilitated interpersonal communication among emperors, imperial families, and courtiers in the Inner Court.

We cordially invite you to join us on Friday, Feb 14, at 4:45-6:45pm CT, CWAC 152 for the third VMPEA workshop this winter. The workshop features:

Xuemiao Wang

Visiting PhD Student, Art History, UChicago | PhD Candidate, Zhejiang University

Who will be presenting the paper titled:

“Fans in the Tombs: Echoes of Elegance and Ritual from Ming Dynasty Folding Fans” 

This workshop will take place in-person only, and the Q&A session will be conducted in both Chinese and English. Please see the abstract and bios for this workshop below.

Geometric-patterned gold-sprinkled bamboo folding fan with gold paper, unearthed from the tomb of Zhu Shoucheng

Abstract:

The phenomenon of folding fans unearthed from Ming Dynasty tombs is particularly notable in 27 burial sites and 89 folding fans concentrated in the Jiangnan region. These burial items were especially prevalent during the mid-to-late Ming period, reflecting the cultural trends and funerary practices of the time. Findings indicate that painted fans and plain white paper fans were widely used as burial items in Jiangnan tombs, a practice that first appeared among commoners before gold-decorated fans were incorporated into the aristocratic “burial clothing (lianyi 殓衣)” system. The evolution of folding fans from luxury goods to significant burial objects showcases the Ming fascination with material culture. Gender and social disparities in the distribution of burial fans are evident, with female tombs often containing more exquisite examples. Understanding the phenomenon of Ming Dynasty burial fans requires attention not only to the literati’s aesthetic preferences and the “burial clothing” customs but also to the material characteristics of Ming tombs. Folding fans were not only included as functional items but were accompanied by a variety of other personal possessions and cultural commodities, the number and diversity of which far exceeded those of earlier periods. The Ming obsession with material possessions is vividly reflected in the transformation of burial objects. Jiangnan tombs had unique historical conditions that favored the inclusion of burial items. When viewed in this context, the burial of gold fans in Ming tombs ceases to appear as an isolated or exceptional phenomenon. Instead, it becomes an integral part of the distinctive commercial and funerary culture of the Ming Dynasty.

Bio:

Xuemiao Wang 王雪苗 is a PhD candidate in the Department of Art History at Zhejiang University and a visiting scholar at the Center for the Art of East Asia at the University of Chicago for the current academic year. Her research focuses on Chinese funerary paintings from the 6th to 13th centuries, with a particular emphasis on tomb screen imagery. Her dissertation examines the primary characteristics and formal transformations of tomb screens during this period, using these changes to explore broader shifts in funerary culture between the Tang and Song Dynasties. In addition to her work on tomb screens, she is also interested in other forms of funerary art, including hanging scrolls found in burial contexts. Her current article on folding fans unearthed from Ming Dynasty tombs investigates the sudden incorporation of cultural commodities into funerary traditions, reflecting broader intersections of material culture and burial practices.

We cordially invite you to join us on Friday, Jan 31, at 4:45-6:45pm CT, CWAC 152 for the second VMPEA workshop this winter. The workshop features:

Yifan Zou

PhD Candidate, Art History, UChicago

Who will be presenting the paper titled:

“In the Folds of Dynastic Models: Building and Re-Building of Iconic Towers” 

Discussant: Zhiyan Yang

Harper-Schmidt Fellow in the Society of Fellows | Collegiate Assistant Professor, UChicago

This workshop will take place in-person only. Please see the abstract and bios for this workshop below.

The Tragic Destruction of a Historic Site (guji yunwang 古蹟雲亡), depicting the Yellow Crane Tower on fire. Lithograph by Wu Youru 吳友如, from Dianshizhai Huabao, 1884

Abstract:

At the current sites of the “Three Iconic Towers of Jiangnan (江南三大名樓)”—a concept I argue emerged during the late Ming—there is a consistent visual strategy of showcasing building history through architectural models, typically featuring one model per Chinese dynasty since the tower’s establishment. These models present a polished and unified appearance of the towers within each dynasty. In contrast, premodern Chinese records, such as local gazetteers and inscribed steles, document numerous repairs and reconstructions, revealing significant variations in a tower’s architectural form within a single dynasty. Meanwhile, while contemporary architectural models emphasize key moments of the towers’ physical existence, repair and reconstruction records provide a broader cultural perspective, addressing the challenges of incompleteness and even absence throughout history.

Considering these discrepancies between contemporary displays and premodern records, my presentation revisits the building sites and textual records with four objectives: first, to assess the consistency of terms used to describe repairs and reconstructions in ancient Chinese records; second, to investigate how textual records of “Three Iconic Towers of Jiangnan” reflect the visions and principles guiding reparative efforts within their respective geographical contexts; third, to examine how each site’s long history was framed within individual repair or reconstruction campaigns in premodern China; and finally, to explore how the 1942 reconstruction plan for the Pavilion of Prince Teng (滕王閣), proposed by the Society for the Study of Chinese Architecture (中國營造學社), intersects with the trends and inquiries shaping Chinese architectural history as an emerging field in the early 20th century.

Bio:

Yifan Zou is a PhD candidate in the Department of Art History and a Provost Dissertation Completion Fellow. As a historian of Chinese art, architecture, and visual culture, she has a particular interest in the interplay between works of art and the built environment from around 1000 CE to the end of the Qing dynasty. She is currently completing her dissertation, Iconic Towers in Chinese Art and Visual Culture, which examines the development of iconic towers (minglou 名樓) as cross-media phenomena encompassing building practices, painting, literature, illustrated books, and decorative objects from the Tang dynasty (618-907 CE) to contemporary China. In addition to her work on Chinese art, she has published an article and translated a book on Mesoamerican art.

Zhiyan Yang (he/him) is an architectural historian whose research spans the art and cultural history of the built environment in East Asia in the long twentieth century, the intersection of non-Western traditions and modernism, the theory and historiography of Chinese architecture, contemporary art and visual culture in East Asia, and diasporic architecture. His work includes a book-in-progress, Culture in Revolution: Contemporary Chinese Architecture and Its Public Discourse, 1978-2008, which draws on a diverse range of built, visual, and textual evidence to explore the cultural shifts in post-Mao Chinese architecture. Yang completed his Ph.D. in the Department of Art History at the University of Chicago. He is currently the Harper Schmidt Fellow in Society of Fellows and Collegiate Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago.

We cordially invite you to join us this Friday, Jan 10, at 4:45-6:45pm CT, CWAC 152 for the first VMPEA workshop this winter. The workshop features:

Yuanxie Shi

PhD Candidate, East Asian Languages and Civilizations | CSGS Residential Fellow, UChicago

Who will be presenting the paper titled:

“Beyond Rural and Urban Material Cultures: Tributes and Gifts in Socialist China” 

Discussant: Erica Warren

Assistant Instructional Professor, Master of Arts Program in the Humanities, UChicago

This workshop will take place in-person only. Please see the abstract and bios for this workshop below.

We hope to see many of you there!

The production team with the embroidered panel commemorating the 10th anniversary, 1959. Private Collection.

Abstract:

Social and economic historians of the People’s Republic of China have long debated the nature of Socialist China’s economy: Was it predominantly socialist, leaning towards capitalist, or a hybrid of both? One strand of this debate has focused on socialist material cultures, with scholars identifying at least two distinct material cultures within the rural-urban divide. This research, however, seeks to illuminate a third realm encompassing socialist tributes, diplomatic gifts, and certain customized luxuries. By examining a specific tribute—an embroidered panel made during the Great Leap Forward by a large group of female lacemakers and embroiderers from Chaozhou—this study explores the extent to which this relatively small realm of material culture represents a continuation of the imperial/state workshop tradition.

Bio:

Yuanxie Shi is a PhD candidate in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations and a CSGS Residential Fellow, specializing in the intersections of labor and women’s history, political economy, technology, and material culture. Her dissertation, “Mao’s Clever Hands: Export Lacemaking and Socialist Flexibility in the Cold War, 1949-1980s,” explores an uncharted history of socialist industrialization since 1949 and during the Cold War. Rather than focusing on mechanical manufacturing and factory settings, her research examines mass production through labor-intensive needlework by millions of Chinese women, primarily in rural areas. This project reveals the subaltern status of rural women and bridges an overlooked social category in both the socialist hierarchy of values and the international division of labor.

Erica Warren is a curator and scholar with over ten years’ experience working with collections, in museums, and teaching. She is currently an assistant instructional professor in the Master of Arts Program in the Humanities at the University of Chicago and the co-founder of The Craft Chronicle, an interactive digital humanities project that further elucidates and visualizes the interconnectedness of craft practice across the United States throughout the twentieth century and beyond. In 2025, Erica will be a Lenore G. Tawney Foundation Fellow. Erica’s area of specialization within decorative arts and design histories centers on the nineteenth century through the present day with a focus on alternative modernisms. Within this broad expanse, her research pursuits include the human and ecological costs that attended industrial innovations in modern textile production; color theory, synthetic dyes and modernists with intermedial art practices; the American designer, entrepreneur, and weaver Dorothy Liebes; the historiographies of modern craft and design; and the unbounded, yet materially specific, practices of contemporary artists.

From 2016-2022, Erica was a curator at the Art Institute of Chicago, where her exhibitions included Bisa Butler: Portraits, Weaving beyond the Bauhaus, Super/Natural: Textiles of the Andes, Music and Movement: Rhythm in Textile Design, Making Memories: Quilts as Souvenirs, and Modern Velvet: A Sense of Luxury in the Age of Industry. Prior to her tenure at the Art Institute, Erica was a curatorial fellow in the Department of European Decorative Arts and Sculpture and a research assistant in the Department of American Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where she curated the exhibition The Main Dish. Erica has taught courses at the University of Chicago, Drexel University, and the Tyler School of Art, Temple University. She earned her PhD in Art History from the University of Minnesota and has participated in the Attingham Summer School.

We cordially invite you to join us this Friday, Dec 13, at 4:45-6:45pm CT, CWAC 152 for our last VMPEA workshop this fall. This workshop features:

Wang You

Harper-Schmidt Fellow in the Society of Fellows | Collegiate Assistant Professor in the Social Sciences, UChicago

Who will be presenting the paper titled:

“Dike Dynamics: Farmers, Scholars, and Polder Design in Jiangnan, 1400-1810” 

Discussant: Lucien Sun

PhD Candidate, Art History, UChicago

This workshop will take place in-person only. You can also find the pre-circulated paper here (password: dike).

Please see the abstract and bios for this workshop below.

We hope to see many of you there!

All the best,

Lucien and Taylor

Polder illustrations in Wang Zhen’s Agricultural Treatise (Nongshu), first published in 1313. Library of Congress.

Abstract:

Since at least the eleventh century, scholars in Jiangnan had debated over the best measure to engineer local waterscape. In its lowland, polders—arable land enclosed by dikes—were crucial to protect rice paddies from flooding and ensure agricultural harvest and economic prosperity. How to build dikes and optimize polder structure, thus, generated intensive scholarly attention.

By juxtaposing three hydraulic manuals, this study examines scholarly efforts to explore and promote proper dike-building techniques in Jiangnan’s lowland between roughly 1600 and 1850. In particular, it investigates two analytically distinctive but practically intertwined approaches to produce agricultural knowledge and build dikes—the external approach advanced by Confucian statesmen and the communal approach by some residential landowners. In the former approach, external authorities viewed rural communities as part of the problem and attempted to impose strict and universal dike standards over “lazy farmers” and discipline farmer-laborers via compulsory official powers. With hydraulic experiences accumulated over the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, rural communities informed a communal turn in scholarly knowledge production by the turn of the early nineteenth century. Refusing hydraulic standards set by external authorities, this communal approach to hydraulic know-how trusted farmers with their in situ knowledge and critical skills as best able to govern their own water systems; the faceless “idle” farmers in the earlier agronomic and hydraulic discussions were transformed into active agents of knowledge with relevant experience in waterscape management.

Bio:

Wáng Yōu 王悠 (she/they) is an economic and environmental historian of early modern and modern China. Her current book project, Collaboration amidst Conflict: Rural Communities and the Making of a Sustainable Waterscape in the Lower Yangzi Delta, 1500-1950, examines the everyday interactions of village women and men with water- and landscapes in China’s economic center through hydraulic institutions, agricultural knowledge production, and a gendered labor regime. She is also interested in continuing exploring the intertwinement of the environment, gender, and the market through the lens of vernacular religion and global trade.

Before coming to the University of Chicago as a Harper-Schmidt Fellow and Collegiate Assistant Professor in the Social Sciences Division, she received her doctoral degree in History from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2022. She is also an alumna of the University of Chicago (A.M. ’14) and Zhejiang University (Bachelor of Economics ’12).

Lucien Sun is a PhD candidate in the Department of Art History at the University of Chicago. His dissertation explores the dynamic relationship between regional space and the visual culture of southern Shanxi in north China between the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries. His most recent article centers around a woodblock print of Guan Yu excavated in Khara-Khoto and its connection to the vibrant regional visual culture of southern Shanxi. He is also interested in the art of book and how picture in its broad sense moved across space, borders, and visual media in medieval Eurasia. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Fudan University, Shanghai. In 2017–18, he was a Sumitomo Corporation visiting student at the University of Tokyo studying Japanese collections of Chinese and East Asian art. This year, he is working as the COSI Rhoades Curatorial Fellow at the Art Institute of Chicago.